UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 
it, and having such a look of neatness and privacy 
as could not have been given to it if it had been 
made from without. How furtive and secretive it 
looked! Still the little miner kept at work, still the 
fresh earth boiled up above the old entrance. He is 
excavating his chamber, I thought; he requires a 
den or vault down there, of several quarts’ capacity, 
in which to build his nest and store his food. 
Whether or not he was then excavating his chamber 
and storeroom, the next day I found two more new 
holes in the turf, one a foot or more from the first 
one, and the other three or more feet away in an- 
other direction — both of them having the same 
shy, elusive character. Why all these extra holes? 
Tasked. I have never before known of a chipmunk’s 
den with so many back or front doors. Are they 
only for means of escape if robbers or murderers 
gain an entrance? If so, they afford another proof 
of the provident cunning of our little striped friend. 
It happened in this case that the squirrel brought 
to the surface no stones too large for the new en- 
trance, but his work-hole was so large and irregular 
that he might easily have done so. 
My chipmunk was engaged for nearly three weeks 
in his excavations. I knew when he had finished by 
his boldly coming into my camp one morning, a 
minute or two after he had seen me enter it. Look- 
ing intently up in my face for a few seconds, he pro- 
ceeded to stuff his mouth with the dry leaves most 
35 
